


Bound

by calie15



Series: Bound [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Werewolf Mates, Wolf Pack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-08
Updated: 2013-08-10
Packaged: 2017-12-18 02:21:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/874564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calie15/pseuds/calie15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Isaac needed her not to think of him. That's what was important, to stop this before it was to late, before she got hurt. His wolf though, his wolf was furious.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an alternate universe fic. The main thing to understand as you go into it is that the werewolf transformation is different. I'm dumping the werewolf form from Teen Wolf and going with an actual wolf transformation. There will be other slight differences with the werewolves and pack bonds, but those will become obvious as you read on. The beginning of this fic is loosely based off of the first few episodes of Season 3.

“Just stay with him,” Scott commanded out of frustration.

Lydia looked over at the boy on the bed. Boy was an understatement she supposed. He was six foot, at least, a werewolf, and now had a nasty gash in his side. Boys weren’t like that. “I can’t do anything for him!” She exclaimed.

Scott sighed, trying to calm down. “Just watch over him, call me if anything goes wrong. I need to find Derek.” Turning back to Isaac he came to look down on him. “Don’t change, I know that’s what you’re body is telling you, but not until we find Derek. Okay?”

In frustration Isaac grit his teeth. “Yea.” There was a moment between him and Scott where a silent warning passed between them. Isaac knew the danger. He also knew the danger if he shifted around Lydia. 

Satisfied, Scott turned and left.

The door slammed behind Scott leaving Lydia to observe silently the rather unattractive loft. She didn’t spend much time considering her surroundings. Turning, she faced the werewolf that was currently sprawled out bare chested on the bed in the middle of the room. With a determined sigh she walked over to him. “Why aren’t you healing?”

Isaac forced open his eyes, squinting because of the light. His head pounded and the light did nothing to help that. “It’s an alpha bite.”

Lydia released an exasperated sigh and looked around again. Finally, she settled for taking a seat on the sofa and entertaining herself on her phone. There was nothing she could do but wait.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was an hour later when he made a slightly pained noise and she looked up from her phone. Lydia stood and walked over to him, noting the lack of color in his face, the light sheen of sweat that covered his body. “Isaac?” She said softly, but you didn’t respond. 

Bending slightly, she pressed her hand to his forehead, he was hot, burning up. It occurred to her to take his temperature, but she doubted Derek actually had a thermometer and to be quiet honest she had no idea if werewolves had the same body temperature as humans. All she knew was that he was hot as hell and wouldn’t wake up no matter how hard she shook him. With a soft curse she hurried across the loft to the kitchen. She made quick work of putting some ice in a bowl, filling it with water and grabbing a towel. The least she could do was get his fever down. 

Bowl in hand, Lydia sat on the side of the bed and dipped the towel into the ice water and preceded to wipe his face with it. “When I’m with a half naked boy it usually goes differently,” she mumbled to herself. Gently, she wiped him with the towel, starting from his face and moving down his shoulders, chest and stomach. It would have been a lie to say she didn’t bit her lip as she tried to ignore his upper body. As she made her way back up, wiping his cheeks, long lashes fluttered open and blue eyes were staring at her. “You’re lucky you aren’t dead. You’re burning up.”

“What do you care?” He croaked and closed his eyes again, wishing she would go away and leave him to his misery or, better yet, to just die. 

“I suppose you’d rather me say I don’t care so you can hate me. Fine, I don’t care.” He looked at her again, his eyes tired and sunken, then rolled his head to the side to stare across them room.

“Then leave.”

“I’m not. I told Scott I’d stay. And contrary to what I just said I don’t think you should be alone.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At some point she’d drug a chair to his bed side, deciding it best to stay close to him. That’s where she found herself two hours after his initial spike in fever, curled up in a chair and staring at him. Scott had checked in twice, letting her know he had indeed not forgotten about Isaac. Lydia didn’t go into to much detail about Isaac’s condition, by the worried and panic tone of his voice she figured he already understood. 

Twice more she’d wiped his body down, desperately trying to keep his fever low. It worked, somewhat. He seemed lucid. Enough that he watched her silently, never saying anything, just watching her. 

At some point her eyes became heavy, lids fluttering closed. Lydia attempted to fight it, because as much as she didn’t particularly like Isaac, he needed someone right now. It was when she heard panting that her eyes snapped open to find him gripping the sheet of the mattress and squeezing his eyes closed. “Isaac!” She snapped and hurried to his side. As she sat next to him she brushed his hair from his face and cradled his cheek. She could feel his jaw working, grinding down. “Isaac!” She screamed again, grabbing his arm and shaking him. The muscles tensed beneath her arm and she looked down to see his entire body seem to tense, muscles cramping as if in reaction to something. When she looked up again she gasped, finding his eyes already changed, shining yellow in the darkness. “Isaac no, remember what Scott said? Don’t change.”

“Leave,” Isaac growled out through gritted teeth. He tried to fight it, but he could feel his bones cracking, muscles tightening as the change slowly began to take over. She shook her head, red hair swinging in front of her face. “Go!”

“No!” She yelled back. His body arched slightly and she heard something rip. She looked down just in time to see his nails rip through the mattress. When she looked back up at him there was wide eyed panic in his eyes. Lydia grabbed his face with both hands this time and forced him to look at her. “It’s okay,” she whispered and brought her face down to his. “You can do it. I know you want to change, but you can fight it. Okay?” He only shook his head. Bones snapped and she looked down to see his ribs moving, becoming larger, wider. Now she understood the panic he felt. Turning to look at him she shook her head. “Isaac no!”

“Lydia,” he said, his voice guttural, half man and half wolf. There was more that Isaac wanted to say, but it took to much effort.

“I’m not leaving,” she told him resolutely, “so it’s up to you. Control the change or don’t.”

Isaac’s wolf had remarkable control, but under the current conditions he didn’t know what would happen. It was possible, once changed, he would be more animal then man and kill her without a second though. Why did she have to be so damn difficult?

“Just....focus on something okay?” Lydia said calmly, rubbing her thumb over his cheek. “Isn’t that how this works? Focus on something, something to ground you. Something human.”

Isaac tried the old tricks, the things that would help him fight the change during the full moon, but none of it worked. His ribs snapped painfully into place and he threw his head back, screaming and snarling. It normally wasn’t this painful. In fact, it was never this painful. His body was forcing it though and he was fighting it. 

Lydia cried out and jumped back, wincing at the pained noises he made. Then he was panting again, a slow rumble in his chest as he did so, signaling to her that there was something else inside of him fighting to get out. Determined, Lydia took her place at his side again. “Isaac Lahey,” she grasped his face roughly, “you will not be changing on my watch do you understand me?! I’m in charge and I said you can not!” Yellow eyes stared up at her, pained and hurting. Against her will, Lydia felt her heart hurt just a little. “It’s okay,” she said softly, relaxing her hold on his face and again brushing damp curls from his forehead. “It’ll be okay,” her voice broke as she spoke, “I promise.”

Isaac gripped the shredded mattress, ignorant of the damage he’d done to it. Everything else had failed to ground him, so he did the last thing he could think of, he focused on Lydia. From her red hair, to her pink lips, wide eyes staring down at him and her perfume. He thought he saw tears there, thought he had heard her voice break with emotion, but that was impossible. Lydia Martin would never cry for him or even care about him. Except he felt her palms on his cheeks caressing his face gently. 

At some point his breathing slowed, bones cracked in his chest and settled back into their rightful place, their human rightful place. Then his body relaxed. When she looked down his fingers were no longer imbedded in the mattress. They were now relaxed, claws gone. Lydia sighed as she looked back up into his yellow eyes. “Okay?”

He released a relieved breath and let his eyes close for a moment. His body relaxed, no longer overcome with the force of the change. A moment later he opened them again, this time her face less clear. His eyes had returned to normal. “Yea.”

Lydia nodded, relaxing as she began to realize crisis had been averted. She pulled her hands from his face and moved to stand, but a hand on her wrist stopped her. 

“Don’t leave,” he said without even realizing what he was doing. Her eyes widened slightly, no doubt surprised by his request. Even he was surprised.

“I’m not,” was her response. The evening was all full of surprises, because Lydia didn’t like Isaac, not in the least. He wasn’t a bad guy, but she was pretty sure he tried to kill her once and he had a tendency to be short tempered and get into trouble. Not to mention he’d never been close enough to her on the social ladder to give him a second thought. The pleading in his eyes broke her though, and against her will she felt bad for him. Even worse, she wanted to stay there and help him. “I’m just going to sit right here.”

Isaac glanced at the chair at his bedside then at her again. Lydia didn’t understand, he wasn’t out of the woods yet. It felt as if at any moment he would snap and the transformation begin again. As much as he hated to admit it, focusing on her had helped. The feel of her hands on his face and the concern in her eyes had grounded him, pulled him back. Isaac wanted to tell her that, he wanted to tell her that physically touching her helped, but there was no way he would ever tell that to Lydia Martin.

Lydia frowned and looked at the chair. Awkwardly she reached behind her and drug it closer. When she turned back to him she spoke gently. “Hold my hand.” He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then slowly he released the vice grip he had on her wrist and slid his hand down. Lydia wrapped her fingers around his hand and moved from the edge of the bed to sit in the chair.

Maybe she did understand he though. Somehow she understood, at least that’s what he liked to believe.

Thirty minutes later Scott and Derek rushed in. Lydia moved out the way, pulling her hand from Isaac’s tight grip. Scott thanked her more then once and Derek glared at her. Lydia collected her belongings and made her way to the door, glancing back only once to look at Isaac to find him staring after her. She swallowed, uncomfortable, for reasons she didn’t even understand, and quickly yanked open the door and left.

An hour later, after arguing with herself, she text Scott and asked about Isaac. When he text back stating Isaac would be fine she cursed herself for being relieved.


	2. Chapter 2

“Don’t let them get to you,” Scott said softly as they walked down the halls.

The scent of the alpha twins flooded the hallway, strong enough that it made him want to wretch. It smelled wrong, vile, like an illness. Immediately he looked up to find what he expected, one of the twins, Aiden. What Isaac hadn’t expected was to find Aiden so close to Lydia. “I’m not the only one their trying to get to.”

Scott looked over to spot one of the twins. If the anger that Isaac was putting off wasn’t enough to rile Scott, then seeing one of the alpha twins so easily conversing with Lydia did. When Lydia finally turned and walked away Scott looked back up at Isaac. Noting the hard look in the other boys eyes he nudged him. “This isn’t the place for it.”

In response Isaac only nodded. “I’ll catch up with you.” Isaac moved to step away, but Scott grabbed his arm. Isaac glanced down at the grip and then at Scott. “Trust me.”

That was easier said then done, but Scott sighed and released him.

Free of Scott, Isaac turned and went down the hallway in the opposite direction of his next class. It didn’t take him long to catch up with his target. Even as he caught up with Lydia his brain screamed at him to stop. The reasonable part of him admitted he had no business doing what he was doing. Isaac didn’t know Lydia Martin, not really. One night where she sat with him near death, kept him from shifting, didn’t mean they were friends. In fact, after it happened, they hadn’t spoken again. That was almost two weeks ago. So no, he didn’t have the right to do what he was about to do. There was something else there that had nothing to do with logic, something that wouldn’t forget about her. Something that told him there was more to it then just that one night. Whatever it was it effected his wolf, who was like a damn caged animal that Isaac refused to let out. The wolf wanted to give in to whatever was drawing him to her. In a matter of seconds he laid out his plan of attack. Isaac grabbed her arm at the perfect time, just next to him was an empty room. He turned the knob, breaking the lock and pushed open the door, pulling her in behind him.

Lydia gasped, looking up at her attacker as he pulled her. Shock made her unable to react and she soon found herself in a dark room with none other then Isaac.

With a shaky breath he looked around the closed space. It was the last place he wanted to be, but he needed to talk to her. Focusing on Lydia had helped once before, there was no reason to think it wouldn’t again. So he turned his full attention on her, only to find himself catching a whiff of the alpha’s scent on her. It was enough to take his mind off of the suffocating closet, but it only succeeded in making him angry again.. “Those twins,” he said through gritted teeth, “their alphas.”

“What?” Lydia asked and yanked her arm from him. “What the hell is wrong with you?” She turned to grab the knob, but his hand slammed against the door, preventing her from going anywhere. Turning back to face him, Lydia glared. “Let me out.”

“Listen to me,” Isaac began and leaned in to her, “they are alphas,” he said slowly in order for it to sink in. “Part of the same pack that almost killed me two weeks ago. Do you remember that?”

“Yes,” she seethed. In fact, she’d been unable to forget it, no matter how hard she tried.

“Then what the hell are you doing?” The warning bells were going off, telling him something was wrong, that he was venturing into unknown territory and his wolf was all to happy about.

“First of all,” Lydia flattened her palm against his chest and pushed him back. For some reason he let her. “No one feels the need to let me know those things. So no, I didn’t know he was one of these stupid alpha wolves. Second, you know what the hell I was doing?” Placing a hand on her hip she cocked an eyebrow. “He’s hot, and you know what, I deserve a little bit of fun. A little bit of distraction never hurt anyone. You should try it sometime.”

A distraction. That’s what she wanted from that piece of filth. Fine. Grasping her arms he slammed her back into the door and kissed her. To her credit she didn’t even act shocked, instead moving her hands up to grasp the back of his head. She wasn’t gentle, yanking on his hair as she parted her lips. 

Common sense came back to her and Lydia yanked his head back by his hair. “I didn’t tell you that you could kiss me.”

“I didn’t ask.” Grabbing her wrists he pulled her hands from his hair and pushed them against the door before dropping his head to kiss her again.

Lydia whimpered as he pressed her body against he door with his own. Her body won out over common sense and she arched into him.

Again Isaac parted her lips, but this time she didn’t stop him. She did fight him for control the entire way though. It would figure that even pinned against a wall she would still find someway to try and dominate someone. 

“I don’t like you,” Lydia gasped against his lips, because it seemed like the right thing to say at the time. 

Lie, he knew it was a lie. Somehow he knew. That stupid fucking wolf inside of him knew and it made him all to pleased. Releasing her wrists he grabbed her ass and hiked her up the door. “You’re lying,” he responded and kissed her again, not even giving her time to argue.

Lydia made a sound of protest, but that was it. She locked her legs around his waist and slid her fingers into the short curls at the back of his head. The final bell rang though, dragging her out of the hormonal frenzy. Reluctantly, Lydia pulled her lips from his and dropped her head back against the door. “I need to go.” But his hand found its way into her hair and guided her head to the side. As his lips descended on her neck her eyes fluttered closed. “I-I need to go.” A small nip made her gasp. “Isaac!” This time she pushed at his shoulders. His face raised from her neck and she found herself staring into yellow eyes. At first she was to shocked to even react, then he blinked and they were blue again, and she would swear it had been nothing to him, almost as if he hadn’t even known. “I need to get to class.”

Isaac heard her, but it was like coming out of a haze. Things started to clear again and suddenly he was hit with the implications of what he had just done. Gently, he set her on the ground and backed away. “Yea, class.”

Lydia nodded slowly, confused by the blank look on his face. “Okay....” 

Slowly, she turned, then he felt a slight panic, and without knowing why he slammed his hand against the door again, stepping forward so that his chest brushed her back and he could dip his head low enough that his mouth was only inches from her ear. “Stay away from them Lydia.”

Against her will Lydia released a shuddered breath. The last thing she wanted to do was to admit that socially awkward Isaac Lahey had knocked her world off its axis. Not only that, she’d liked it. “Their dangerous, I got it.”

“I’m serious, they’ll kill anyone in there way and use you if it suits them. I’m sure there are less dangerous way’s to find fun.” Her face turned up to face him and he had to resist the urge to kiss her again.

“Like you?” Lydia asked, smirking slightly. “Are you any less dangerous?”

Isaac had to bite down on a snarl at her implications. He wanted to press her back against that door and take her against it. He’d lost his damn mind. Instead of focusing on her suggestion he worried himself over her assumption about how dangerous he was. “I’m not dangerous to you,” he said before he could think about it, because he didn’t want her to think that. For some reason it bothered him that she might.

Lydia looked down and swallowed, the honesty of his words taking the fun out of flirting with him. “I won’t talk to them,” she said quietly. “Thanks for the heads up.” His concern made her all to pleased. Lydia didn’t like that. 

She wouldn’t look at him, and he needed her too, but he wouldn’t force it. Instead he stepped back. Yet as she opened the door she glanced back at him, for just the briefest second, then slipped through the door.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lydia kept her word. At some point she would be having a serious conversation with someone about this alpha pack. In the mean time she would steer cleared of Aiden and his brother. 

It was easy to forget about Aiden when she was replaying her closet encounter with Isaac over and over again. All day she tried to understand how they had been arguing one moment and making out the next. Not just making out, it was hot. Lydia had wanted him and that was not acceptable. What she did not need was an attraction to Isaac Lahey. Lydia Martin from a year ago would have laughed at her at her current predicament. 

Of course a lot had changed in a year. Lydia herself had suffered some social disgrace, Jackson had left and Isaac had gone through his own transformation, a literal one. Becoming a werewolf had done much to improve Isaac, even she had to admit that. Physically, not much had changed. Perhaps he had grown a little taller, a little leaner, and little more muscular...

Lydia mentally cursed herself for allowing her brain to go down that road. The biggest difference was his own confidence. From what Lydia remembered of Isaac before his change was the lack of confidence. The way he never really looked anyone in the eye, kept his head down, stayed quiet. That led her to thoughts of the rumors she’d heard about him and his dad. At that she did shake her head, unwilling to go that route.

So there was something different about Isaac. A lot different she supposed. Plus, things had changed for her also. That didn’t mean she had to like him though. 

Yet when she sat down in Physics, determined to keep her head down, she felt eyes on her. Lydia knew, she just knew who it was. For a time she ignored him, eventually it became to much and she turned. A couple of rows back sat Isaac, slouched comfortably in his chair, watching her. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Instead of turning away, uncomfortable under his stare, Lydia rolled her eyes in exasperation then looked to the front of the class. Immediately she counted the number of classes she had with him. Three. That was three to many.


	3. Chapter 3

With a relieved sigh Isaac pushed open the door to the Hale house and dropped his bag on the floor against the wall. The house was a disaster, but it was a work in progress. Derek had decided quickly to move out of the loft when Boyd and Cora became a part of the pack. There was no room and to be honest living in a building with other people when you turned into a wolf wasn’t advisable. When they weren’t home the house was being remodeled. 

He was only two steps in when he felt the tension in the room. Derek stepped into his line of sight soon after, arms crossed and looking intense. At least more intense then usual. “What?”

“We need to talk,” Derek said and motioned to the sofa.

“I think I’d rather stand,” Isaac responded, still gun shy over their last ‘talk’. Things had only slightly improved between them since Derek had kicked him out.

“Fine,” Derek responded and turned away from Isaac to walk further into the room. He could hear Isaac’s footsteps behind him. Reaching the table he turned and leaned back against it, arms crossing again over his chest. “What’s going on with Lydia?”

Isaac wished he would have been better prepared for the question. Instead his eyes went wide in shock. “What?”

Derek frowned and sighed, dropping his arms to grasp the table. “You need to stay away from her.”

“Why?” Isaac probably should have denied that anything was going on, but Derek’s words caused to much concern for him to be worried about his feelings for Lydia being exposed to Derek. At his question Derek seemed to be torn, silent for to long. “Don’t hide things from me. That was the deal we made remember?”

Derek remembered. He’d promised Isaac when he’d moved back in that there would be no secrets. This was different. Derek never thought he’d have to go here, not this soon. He’d promised though, and if he didn’t tell Isaac the boy would ignore his warning. Explaining was probably Derek’s only chance. “You feel something for her don’t you? You’re confused about it. I know you never had an connection with her in the past now all of a sudden you can’t stop thinking about her right?” Isaac didn’t respond, but Derek could feel the anxiousness in him. “I don’t know what happened between the two of you that night you almost died, but I’ve been feeling something grow between the two of you since.”

“What do you mean ‘something grow’?” The door opened again and Isaac turned to see Peter make his entrance. He tensed at the presence of the other werewolf.

“You’re trying to mate with her kid.” Peter shut the door behind him and walked across the floor of the house. “This is a new development no one told me about.”

“You didn’t need to know,” Derek growled.

“Sure I did.” Peter came to a stop and looked at Isaac with an amused grin. “The alpha has a connection to each wolf in his pack. There are bonds that tie them all together. He can feel them, he draws strength from them and the other wolves in the pack draw strength from the alpa.”

“I know all of this,” Isaac said, slightly annoyed. “I don’t need a lesson on pack bonds.”

Derek ignored Peter after that. “Werewolves also form mate bonds, which can also be felt by the alpa. You’re forming one with Lydia,” Derek said finally. “It isn’t strong, but I can feel it.”

“Good for the pack,” Peter pointed out. “Maybe not a bad idea to let it happen.”

“And get her killed?” Derek snapped. Isaac growled and Derek turned to the younger werewolf. “See? Would you have reacted like that before at the thought of someone hurting her?”

Isaac immediately clamped down on the anger as he realized the truth of Derek’s words. Before he hadn’t wanted to sit, but now he could barely stand. Without even really seeing, he walked to the sofa and collapsed onto it, burying his face into his hands. 

“You already feel it, you just don’t recognize it for what it is. In the beginning it’s just slight things, like a need to make sure she is safe, jealously, attraction or just the inability to stop thinking about her. You’re even more in tuned to her own emotions.”

It all sounded to familiar. Isaac looked up at Derek. “And you want me to stop it?”

“The alpha pack is determined to have me kill my own,” Derek pointed out. “If you form this mate bond with Lydia she’s part of the pack, whether she likes it or not. She’ll be another person with a target on her back.”

Again Isaac felt the panic rise in him, the need to check on her, be closer to her.

“You need to get control of it,” Derek said, already feeling the emotions rise in Isaac. “You need to stay away from her, as much as possible. The more distance between the two of you the more likely the bond will start to fade.” Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Peter look at him knowingly, but Derek ignored him. “It isn’t strong enough for the alpha pack to pick up on yet, but it will be if you don’t put a stop to it Isaac.”

Isaac dropped his hands, keeping his forearms resting on his knees, and turned to look at Derek. “You said she’d be a part f the pack. Only werewolves can be part of the pack. That doesn’t make any sense.”

Derek frowned and turned to glare at Peter.

Peter only rolled his eyes. “Don’t blame me. I didn’t know this was going to happen.”

Isaac looked between the two of them. “What?”

Turning back to Isaac, Derek frowned further, if that was even possible. “She isn’t a werewolf, but she was bitten by an alpha. The werewolf trait is in her blood now. It allows you to form a mate bond with her.”

Isaac stood and turned to Peter, recalling that the former alpha had bitten Lydia and put her in the hospital, setting off a whole different chain of events for her. “You know, I forgot about that.”

“Isaac!” Derek snapped, the power of the alpha in his voice. The rage in Isaac was still there, but it wasn’t growing, not like before. 

“Sorry?” Peter asked with a shrug.

“Shut up,” Derek said to him and turned back to Isaac. “It doesn’t matter how your able to form the bond. The point is that it’s starting and if you really want to keep her safe then you need to stay as far away from her ask you can. Do you understand?”

Except he didn’t want to stay away. Just the thought of staying away now hurt. Isaac had been content to believe he hated her, that it was a fluke, but to have someone confirm that there was something real between them only cemented his feelings for her.

“Isaac,” Derek said more gently, “I understand, but this is the best thing for her. You need to remember that. We can barely keep ourselves alive. If you drag her into this...”

“She’s dead,” Isaac nodded, “I got it.” With that he left the Peter and Derek, walked out the front door and slammed it behind him.

Derek started after him, but Peter grabbed his shoulder. The wolf inside of him turned to Peter and growled, not at all liking someone else trying to stop him.

“Let him go, he needs to run it off.” Peter took a step in front of Derek and cocked his ear. “Let’s talk about why you told him the bond will start to fade if he stays away from her.”

“Shut up,” Derek snapped and stepped around him. Perhaps Isaac did need to run it off, but he’d follow close behind just to be safe.

“You know that isn’t true,” Peter called after him. Derek stopped but didn’t turn around. “Mate bonds are rare, you and I both know that. Once formed, that’s it, they’re for life. Isaac, if he’s strong enough, may be able to fight it for now, but not forever. Eventually he’s going to give into it and there will be nothing you can do to keep them apart.”

Derek turned to face him. “As long as he can fight it long enough for us to deal with this alpha problem then that’s all that matters.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Within the days that followed Isaac avoided Lydia like the plague. Classes were a problem and mutual friends. Friends Isaac found he could avoid too. Scott questioned him on it, but Isaac avoided answering. Classes were the worst. For hours he had to avoid looking at her, avoid thinking about her. It was easier not knowing what was between them, then he wasn’t so drawn to her. Yet now that he knew it felt like his entire being was fighting him. Luckily, she didn’t speak to him either. Isaac could feel her looking at him though, he always did. When he walked passed her in the hallway he noticed the way she looked at him under her eyelashes. In class he knew as soon as she turned to him. He would swear he felt some emotion between them when she did, something like pain or hurt. It was so sudden that he questioned whether it really was coming from himself and not her. Isaac would grip the desk, fighting the need to look at her, draw closer to her, talk to her, touch her. All to easily he could recall that moment in the closet. It made so much more sense now, the suddenness of it all, why he was drawn to a girl he’d barely even spoke to.

Except the more he though about it the more he understood. That night when she was with him had done something. Lydia had stayed with him, regardless of the danger she had put herself in by doing so. She’d kept his fever from spiking, promised him everything wold be okay, caressed his face and cried for him. There hadn’t been anyone to do that for him, ever. At least not sense his mother, and that was to long ago. Isaac had people that he had a connections to now, that supported him, were there for him. Mainly Derek and Scott, but this had been different. There had been been something in her touch and in her face that you didn’t get from a friendship or pack bond. Isaac had been drawn in by her then and he’d wanted more. The more he thought about it the more he realized that in his distress at being forced to shift he’d latched on to Lydia to keep himself grounded. Now he could almost look back on that moment and see this invisible bond with her snapping in place. One moment he was shifting, unable to stop himself and the next he had control again. It was that moment that it happened. He would swear to it.

The desk cracked under his grip. It drew him from his thoughts and he looked up to see if anyone noticed. Scott looked over at him in confusion and concern, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Lydia. She had turned her head, just slightly, then stopped. Isaac could feel it, the sudden spike of concern. It was so much easier to recognize now that he knew what he was looking for. Yet she didn’t turn to face him, instead she faced the front of class again, leaving him torn. For once she hadn’t turned to look at him, for once she fought it and that’s what he wanted. Not wanted though, it’s what he needed. Isaac needed her not to think about him. That’s what was important. His wolf though, angry and furious now that he fought the bond, was pleased. Because she’d felt him. She’d actually felt his turmoil of emotions and reacted to it, which meant regardless of how ignorant of the bond, she was reacting to it.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lydia gathered her books and hurried out the classroom. She hated the feeling of running. Running though was easier then facing the things she was running from. Lydia could run, but what she couldn’t do was admit she was attempting to escape Isaac Lahey. He was always there in the back of her mind. They’d only ever had two poignant moments in their entire life. The first he’d almost died and the second he’d kissed her. That was it. Yet he haunted her and left her longing. So many times she waited to see if he’d look again, like he used to, but he never did. A part of her even hoped he’d push her into another empty room and pin her against the door again. Something would have been nice, anything. Instead he ignored her, and Lydia hated herself for thinking about that stupid insignificant boy.


	4. Chapter 4

Four months later...

Isaac, for probably the twentieth time, cursed Derek for calling him out of lacrosse practice. He’d never hear the end of it. There were voices as he approached the door to the Hale house, but they silenced quickly. They’d heard him. Without even bothering to determine who was inside he pushed open the door and stopped short. “Wow, this is some get together.” Derek, Scott, Stiles and Allison. “What’s the occasion?”

Derek watched him toss his bags to the side, an air of rebelliousness about him. It had been that way for months. It reminded him eerily of the boy he’d been just after being turned. Scott met his eye and Derek frowned. “We need to talk.”

“Well, this isn’t a pack thing I’m assuming, because those two,” he nodded at Allison and Stiles, “don’t belong here.”

“Isaac...” Scott began.

“What?” Isaac snapped in annoyance. “What the hell is going on and why is everyone staring at me?”

“Lydia is missing.” Stiles said suddenly. Everyone in the room turned to him and he cringed. “It needed to be said.”

The shock of Stiles words only lasted a second. Isaac stepped forward to face Derek. “Where is she?” He asked evenly.

Derek turned and look at Scott, deferring to him.

“Lydia never made it to Allison’s. We found her car on the side of the road.”

“There’s another werewolf,” Allison jumped in. Isaac turned his eyes on her and she faltered for a moment then quickly continued. “Some guy that had been following Lydia around. We didn’t even realize he was a werewolf until one day when we were with Scott.”

“I warned him off, but his scent was by her car. Boyd and Cora are looking for her, but...” Scott trailed off and shook his head. “We haven’t gotten the cops involved. It’s a werewolf matter, but we don’t have much time.

Isaac released a shaky breath and turned away from them. They couldn’t see it on his face, not when he’d done so much to hide it. Four months had felt like an eternity. An eternity of avoiding her, living with her eyes not turning to him, watching her with other guys. Guys that weren’t him. Isaac shook his head and turned to Derek. “How hard can it be to actually track her?”

“We lost her scent with the rain,” Derek responded. “I think you may be able to find her.”

Isaac felt the push of his wolf fighting to get out. At the simple suggestion his wolf wanted free, it wanted to find her, it wanted to kill. That was the other problem. Staying away from Lydia also meant controlling the wolf in him, because it didn’t give a shit when it came to staying away from her. He had learned that early on. It was tired of being trapped and it wanted out. “What do you mean?”

Derek frowned, unsure how to proceed.

“What do you mean Derek?!” 

“We don’t have time for this!” Stiles exclaimed suddenly and threw his hands up. “Look, we know about this mate bond thing you have going on with Lydia. We’ve known for months. Derek told us so we could try and keep you apart. But he thinks you can use it to find her. So,” Stiles held his hands out to Isaac, “just do it already!”

As Stiles’ words sunk in his jaw clenched to the point he thought it might break. His fists tightened and he really thought he might hit something or someone. Isaac knew the end goal, he understood. It was to keep him and Lydia apart, to prevent him from forming a bond with her. For four months it had been nothing but misery for him. Misery he suffered in silence. Everyone knew though. They’d discussed it, planned, done their best to keep him from her. Isaac understood, but it didn’t mean he didn’t want to kill each and everyone of them in that moment. There wasn’t time for that, not yet. “I’ve spent four months fighting this, blocking her out, blocking this connection out. I can’t just turn it back on!” Derek glared at him and he felt the weight of the alpha’s power on him, forcing him to back down. Isaac fought it, but ultimately he had no choice.

“As a wolf you will,” Derek said finally when the fight had finally left Isaac. “Instinct will take over.”

“Instinct?” Isaac laughed, but there was no humor. “Instinct has been telling me to give in, not fight it. Do you know what’s going to happen if I do this? The wolf has no problem forming this bond Derek. All that work I’ve done to keep away from her, that will be gone!”

“I know,” Derek sighed and shook his head. “I’ve felt it. The alpha’s are dead Isaac and you have no choice. You were never going to be able to break the mate bond anyway.”

Derek’s last statement was like a physical blow. For months he’d believed that he could fight it, break himself away from Lydia and move on. Even if the alpha’s were dead there would always be another danger and Isaac knew that wasn’t anything she wanted to be a part of. To know that was all a lie...he couldn’t even comprehend what that meant. 

“I’ll help speed your change,” Derek added. “It’ll slow my own, but Scott can be right behind you. And Cora and Boyd are already changed and out there somewhere, they’ll come to you.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lydia kept her hands folded on her lap, thumb rubbing over her knuckles as she fretted over her current situation. The young man watched her. Not just a young man. A werewolf. “There is nothing special about me,” she said again, trying to convince him otherwise.

“Sure there is.”

“No, I’m not a werewolf. I don’t know what you want from me.” Lydia tried to keep herself calm, but it was hard when you were being held captive in an abandoned hunting lodge in the middle of the woods. Lydia had run from him, taking shelter there in hopes of hiding, but he’d found her and for the past hour had kept her there. 

“You’re not,” the stranger admitted and shook his head in confusion. “Which is fine,” he said and smiled as he stood, “because you’ll be easier to control. Mate bonds give a werewolf strength and I don’t like sharing my strength, I’d rather just take.”

“What? Mate?” Lydia stared up at him wide eyed and afraid. “No. I don’t think so. I’m seventeen! I’m no ones mate!”

The stranger cocked an eyebrow as he came to stand in front of her. He sniffed the air thoughtfully. “You aren’t? Perhaps that’s why the current bond is so weak. You’re ignorant of it. That’s fine. Easier to break.”

Lydia opened her mouth to speak, but the words didn’t come. She was speechless, and that didn’t happen very often. She had no idea what he was talking about though. His head turned suddenly, eyes sharpening and his face hardening. Then suddenly he bent over, grasped her throat and looked into her eyes. Lydia gasped in panic, but didn’t dare scream.

“Stay here,” he said, a growl lacing his voice.

Lydia watched him take off through the door. The last thing she was going to do was stay there. She’d rather take her chance running again and die then to serve herself up for him. She waited though, just about a minute, then stood and went to the door slowly. Quietly, she pushed the door open and peeked her head around, listening and looking for any sign of the stranger. There was none. She counted to three in her head then ran.

Rocks, twigs and wet mud dug into her feet. The pain didn’t matter, she didn’t even care. No when her life depended on it. She ran and ran, panting with the effort, praying she was heading back towards the road. 

Then she heard it, a growl and the sound of something large barreling through the trees. Lydia dared a look behind her, but saw nothing. She pushed herself harder, legs cramping and chest burning with the effort. It was coming. Not a man, a wolf. She’d never make it out alive. Tears clouded her vision and she tried to wipe them away, but she winded up stumbling regardless. 

As she hit the forrest floor she cried out in pain and moved to stand. A snarl stopped her though. Still laying on the ground she turned her head to find a grey wolf only a few feet away. It growled at her, advancing slowly. Still on the ground, Lydia used her hands to crawl backwards, but that seemed to make the animal more enraged. It crouched to the ground and her eyes widened with the realization that this was it. When it leaped she screamed, turned her head and closed her eyes. Nothing happened.

There was snarling though, the sound of movement in the brush. Lydia turned her head to look again only to find herself staring at two wolves this time. The grey one was still there, but now there was another light brown wolf, slightly larger then the grey one. It stood between her and the grey one. Lydia scrambled backwards, not sure if being near either one of them was a good idea. The brown one growled menacingly at the grey wolf as it rose from the ground where it appeared to have been knocked over. There was snarling from the both of them then the brown wolf roared, causing Lydia to jump. The sound of it reverberated through the forrest. It launched itself at the grey one and she screamed, jumping up and turning to run only to find herself come face to face with another wolf, this one dark brown. 

She screamed in shock, but it didn’t more, only stared at her. “Scott?” The wolf stood there for a moment then stepped forward. For a second she held her breath, but it bumped her side and stood against her as it watched the fighting before them. Lydia released a relieved breath and dropped her hand to clutch the fur at his back. Perhaps later she’d feel weird about grasping Scott’s fur, but she was to relieved to care. 

There was more commotion and she turned just in time to see three more wolves appear from the trees. Lydia wasn’t sure, but she had the sneaking suspicion that the black one was Derek. If it was Derek then the other two wolves who stood behind him had to have been part of his pack pack. Boyd, Cora or Isaac. Isaac. 

Almost as soon as she thought his name she knew who the brown wolf was. She turned to the fighting and inhaled sharply as it became clear to her that the brown wolf was Isaac. It didn’t help that the grey wolf bit into his leg at that exact moment and he howled in pain. “No!” She screamed as if that one word might do something to help him. Isaac somehow escaped the wolves grip and then they were fighting again. Lydia looked to the other wolves, waiting for them to do something, but they stood there, watching. Lydia prepared herself to scream at them when she heard a large roar. 

She turned her head just in time to see Isaac bite down on the wolves throat. There was a whimper of pain and then nothing. Isaac shook the wolf by it’s neck and finally dropped it to the ground. It didn’t move again. Lydia just stared, because he’d killed the wolf. No, he killed a person. 

Isaac turned and blue eyes met hers. Slowly, he walked towards her, limping slightly on his back leg. Lydia winced as she remembered his pained howl. As he came towards her she forced herself to remain still, not sure how to react to him. After all, he’d just killed someone. Someone that was prepared to kill her she amended to herself. He was large she realized as he came closer. 

Their body types resembled their human ones she concluded. Isaac, taller then the rest normally, was taller then them as a wolf. Derek, he was broader, more muscular. 

When Isaac came to a stop in front of her Scott backed away, his fur sliding out of her fingers. “Isaac?” The wolf extended his head towards her and sniffed. 

Noise drew her attention from Isaac and she turned to look behind her. Before she even had the opportunity to determine what was coming Isaac walked around her and stood between her and the unknown noise. Seconds later Allison appeared with Stiles behind her. 

“Lydia!” Allison exclaimed and sighed in relief. She came to a stop before Isaac and looked down at the wolf standing in front of Lydia. His presence made her falter for a moment, but she quickly recovered. “Are you okay?”

Lydia opened her mouth to respond, but she was interrupted.

“Oh my god. Is it dead?!” Stiles exclaimed, walking closer to the wolf laying on the ground. He turned to Lydia and Allison. “It’s dead right? I mean there is no healing from this.”

Allison peered around Lydia, finally seeing the grey wolf sprawled on the forest floor. Derek also seemed to have taken an interest in it. He walked closer and lowered his head to sniff the body. She glanced at Lydia who had also turned. “What happened?” She asked as she also walked closer, only stopping when she came to Stiles’ side. A body bumped her and she looked down to see Scott at her side.

Lydia swallowed, unsure of what she was supposed to say. Without thinking, she glanced down at Isaac.

Allison noticed Lydia’s eyes flicker down to Isaac. “Isaac killed him,” she concluded. At that Lydia met her eyes. “He has blood on his coat,” she explained. That, and if anyone was going to kill a werewolf for taking Lydia it was going to be the werewolf who was forming a mate bond with her, but Allison wasn’t going to tell Lydia that.

“What the hell are we supposed to do with a dead werewolf?” Stiles finally asked. He leaned in and scrunched his face at the carnage. “Wow Isaac, when you get pissed...” Stiles trailed off and looked up to find Allison glaring at him. “Anyway, what are we doing with this?”

“Leave it,” Allison responded. “It won’t shift back to human. If anyone comes across it they’ll think it’s just a very large wolf. Unless someone objects.” Isaac growled from Lydia’s side. “That’s what I thought.” Derek must have agreed because he backed away. “I’m assuming the rest of you are heading back on four legs.” As if in response Derek looked to Boyd and Cora who stood behind him. They took off.

“Isaac’s hurt,” Lydia said, remembering his limp. “He was limping.”

“We’ll put him in Stiles’ jeep.” Allison glanced down at Isaac. She figured he wouldn’t be parting from Lydia anyway.

“Uh, but he has blood on him.”

Lydia turned to Stiles and glared. “Stop being such a baby. Let’s go. The sooner we get away from this creep the better.”

“We’ll meet you at Derek’s.” Allison said to Scott who still stood at her feet. He glanced up at her once then turned away. For a moment she watched him disappear into the forrest before turning Stiles and Lydia. “Ready.”

“Is he going to be okay?” Lydia asked as she watched Isaac who was walking at her side still.

Allison also watched him, able to observe for the first time what this mate bond was actually doing to them. It was clear already that Isaac wouldn’t be leaving her side. “Yea. They heal faster in wolf form. He’ll probably stay this way until he is fully healed. Eating will probably help moving it along faster. He doesn’t seem to be in to much pain, so the wound may not be that bad. It’s possible he may be able to turn human again in the middle of the night or the morning.”

Lydia nodded, watching the wolf walk at her side.

“What happened Lydia?” Allison asked. Her friend looked up at her, almost startled.

“It was that guy.” Allison nodded, clearly understanding that part. “I don’t know. He was crazy. Talking about making himself stronger through forming a mate bond or something.” Growling drew her attention and she stopped short. Isaac also stopped walking. The growling halted.

Allison glared at the wolf, but he wasn’t looking at her. “Come on.” Stiles looked at her, both of them understanding clearly what was going on. Allison wanted to ask more, but she said nothing. Derek would no doubt be grilling her back at the Hale house, she figured one inquiry would be enough. 

“You’re okay though right? He didn’t do anything to you?” Stiles asked in concern, looking her over for any signs of injury.

“I’m fine,” Lydia said in a clipped tone. She was fine, or at least she would be. Yet she wouldn’t meet their eyes, but out the corner of her own she could see them glance at her. They didn’t think she was fine, they knew better. As long as they didn’t push it she didn’t care what they thought. A large furry body bumped into her as they walked and she looked down at Isaac who was looking up at her. For a moment her anxiety, her fear, it all faded and she felt herself smile softly down at him.

“We’re here.”

At the sound of Stiles’ voice her head shot up to spot the jeep on the side of the road. 

“You,” Stiles looked down at Isaac, “in the back.” Isaac snarled at him, but he rolled his eyes. “Tell it to someone who cares. Come on ladies.”


	5. Chapter 5

An hour later Lydia found herself sitting on the side of Derek’s tub soaking her feet in water. That was after Allison, being the efficient hunter that she was, checked Lydia’s feet for any serious cuts or splinters. After, Allison dumped a large amount of epsom salt into a tub and filled it up. “My car,” Lydia said suddenly.

“Taken care of,” Allison responded. 

Lydia nodded in response, and stared down into the water, kicking her feet gently. 

“Are you okay?” Allison asked again from where she sat perched on the counter. “Really?”

At that Lydia swallowed. It was harder to lie when they were alone. “I-I don’t know. I really thought that was it,” she explained softly, still staring at the water. “I would have preferred that be the end instead of being whatever it was he wanted. Nothing like being chased through the forrest by a crazy werewolf to ruin your day,” she joked and glanced back at Allison. Her friend offered her a pitying smile. The door opened and Lydia looked up to see Scott stick is head in.

“Hey, before Allison brings you home, Derek wanted to speak with you, “ Scott said gently. Something nudged his leg and he tried kicking it, but it was no use. Another firmer nudge and he sighed, moving out the way and opening the door. 

Lydia looked down at the light brown wolf that walked into the bathroom, nails clicking on the tile. “How is he?”

“Better,” Scott said and watched Isaac lay down on the floor and place his head on his paws to watch Lydia. “Derek took a look at his leg. It’ll be healed in no time. Not the worst injury he’s every had. You know that of course.” Lydia nodded in response. Scott looked over at Allison for a brief moment, their eyes connected over Isaac and then turned back to Lydia to find her still staring down at Isaac. “He was waiting outside the door to come in,” Scott explained, watching for her reaction.

At Scott’s words Lydia glanced up at him. “Why?”

He shrugged nonchalantly in response. “I guess he wanted to see if you were okay.” He wouldn’t mention that Isaac had been impatiently waiting the entire hour unable to sit still, alternating between one spot and the other, standing and sitting. Finally, in the bathroom with Lydia, the wolf seemed content. No, Scott wouldn’t tell her that.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Derek looked up at the sound of footsteps and moments later Lydia emerged from the hallway and into the living room, Allison and Scott with her, and Isaac trailing behind them. She was barefoot and her clothes filthy, evidence of her time running in the forest. “Do you have a story straight for when you get home?”

“I’m not an idiot,” Lydia snapped. “Don’t worry about that.” Derek hadn’t done anything to deserve her anger. In fact, he had also come to her rescue. She thought that also had something to do with the fact that it involved another werewolf. There was something about Derek that always bothered her. Perhaps it was his cranky attitude or maybe it had to do with the authority he held over every one else. Lydia didn’t want to be under his thumb.

Derek frowned at the girl, but said nothing else on the subject. He’d imagine she probably did. “So let’s talk about this wolf.”

Lydia sighed in annoyance and looked to the door, but found herself meeting Isaac’s eyes instead. They were gentle, if you could call a dangerous animal’s eyes gentle, and she would swear pleading. Reluctantly, Lydia took a seat on the sofa. “Okay, listen well, because I’m only saying this once. I’d seen this guy just three times prior to today, each time he was be way creeping and always staring. The last time Scott saw him,” she looked over to her friend.

“We covered that part already,” Scott added, trying to hurry it along for her benefit. 

“Good,” Lydia turned back to Derek and continued. “So today, he runs me off the road and red riding hood goes running through the forest.” She didn’t miss the exasperated look on Derek’s face at her storybook reference, but she ignored it. “I found this little hunting lodge and hid there, but he found me. I’m assuming probably smelled me out right?” No one said a word, but she took that as confirmation. “So here I am, stuck with this guy who says he wants to mate with me or something.” She shook her head in disgust, but a growl at her side momentarily distracted her. Lydia looked over at Isaac who quickly became silent. After a moment of confusion, ignorant of everyone else’s stare, she turned back to Derek.

“Okay,” Derek interrupted. “This is the important part.” She narrowed her eyes at him for interrupting her. “So try to at least give me some details.”

“I’m trying,” she grounded out. “As I was saying,” Lydia paused to be sure he wouldn’t interrupt and then continued, this time slower as she recalled the conversation, “I told him I wasn’t a werewolf, and he said that would make me easier to control. Because I’m weaker?” Derek nodded, confirming her suspicion. “But I’m human.”

At that Derek looked at Isaac then back at Lydia. This was the tricky part. Deciding whether she really needed to know. “You,” he paused and pursed his lips together, unwilling to say more, but knowing he had no choice, “you were infected with an alpha werewolf bite, You’re not a werewolf, but the werewolf trait is in your blood now. If it wasn’t for your immunity I suspect you would have turned. It makes a mate bond possible.”

“If I ever get my hands on Peter Hale one day I’m going to kill him,” she seethed.

“Get in line,” Scott added. Everyone looked at him. “Well, it’s true.”

“Continue,” Derek said back to Lydia.

“He also said mate bonds make a werewolf stronger.”

When she paused Derek took that as his cue to explain. “Pack bonds make werewolves and the alpha stronger. The mate bonds make a pack stronger, but it mostly make the werewolves involved stronger. This werewolf thought he could get the strength of a mate bond and an easy mate to control.”

“Okay. Well, I told him no, I’m not going to be anyones mate. Then he precedes to sniff me,” she wrinkles her nose and shakes her head, “and I’ll quote you his exact words because I never forget. He said, ‘You aren’t? Perhaps that’s why the current bond is so weak. You’re ignorant of it. That’s fine. Easier to break.’” Lydia paused for a moment, studying Derek, Scott and Allison. Derek’s face remained void of any emotion, which wasn’t very different from his normal look. When she looked at Allison the girl’s eyes widened slowly and Scott couldn’t even look her in the eye. It was a shame Stiles had already left, he couldn’t hide a thing. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know,” Derek responded without thinking. Isaac whined and lowered himself to the ground at Lydia’s feet. He wasn’t sure if Isaac wanted her to know or was scared of her finding out, but either way the wolf wasn’t happy.

“You are lying,” she said firmly. “My conclusion, based off of what he said, is that I already have a mate bond with someone, that I am ignorant of it and that it is weak because of that. So, Derek Hale, alpha, what the hell is he talking about?”

“Lydia, I don’t think you really want the answer.”

Lydia knew there was something going on, but to hear Derek finally admit to it shook her confidence. So there was a mate bond. Somewhere out there was some werewolf guy she had a mate bond with and she had no idea. “Don’t you tell me what I may or may not want to know. Tell me now.”

Derek watched Isaac stand and walk away, going to settle at Scott’s feet. Isaac wouldn’t go to Derek, not when Lydia’s attention was on him. So Scott was his next best option, someone that he felt might offer him protection. Isaac was scared. “Lydia...” Derek said and sighed.

The fact that even Derek seemed troubled and reluctant unsettled her, but it also cemented her resolve to know the truth.

“Look, if you want to know then fine, but once you don’t you can’t ignore and claim ignorance.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” She snapped at his clipped response.

“It means mate bonds effect a werewolf, emotionally. So if you want to know then you are claiming responsibility for it and you’ll deal with it.” Lydia turned the ugliest look on him and in that moment he was glad she had been immune to the werewolf bite. She would have been a bitch to control if she had turned.

“Excuse me?” She asked and stood and took a step towards him. “You are not going to tell me what to do.”

“And you little girl,” he ignored the shocked expression on her face, “are not going to tear apart my pack.”

His pack. “Someone in your pack.” Lydia spun around and looked at Scott. He met her eyes, and she knew it wasn’t him. Isaac, Boyd and maybe Peter. Yuck. Not Peter. Peter liked power. Peter wouldn’t have left a weak mate bond. Boyd or Isaac. Boyd, she barely knew him. She barely knew Isaac also. There was that time she helped him, that kiss, the looks. The hurt when he stopped looking.... He saved her in the forest, stayed at her side. Came into the bathroom to watch over her, followed her out. “Isaac Lahey I’m going to kill you!” She screamed suddenly and stood. The werewolf stood at Scott’s feet and walked around to the other side of Scott, farther from her. “Don’t you hide behind Scott.” 

“Lydia,” Scott started and turned his back to Isaac, feeling a need to lay a hand on top of the wolfs head, “maybe this should wait. He didn’t know either.”

Lydia ignored Scott though, and walked around him to stand in front of Isaac. “I knew something was weird. I couldn’t put my finger on it. This is your fault!” The wolf in front of her stopped hiding and growled and snapped. Lydia’s jaw fell and she stared down at him in shock. 

Derek moved forward to step in, especially considering Isaac was getting agitated, but then Lydia spoke again.

“Don’t you get pissy with me."

"He saved your life," Derek interrupted their strange argument. Lydia turned to look at him.

His comment stung, because it was true, but the time to be grateful was over. With this new news she could barely focus on her time in the forest. Not when she just found out that the same wolf that has saved her had formed some freaky mate bond with her. "I'm ready," Lydia said finally. Without even a look at Allison she headed for the door. There was a slow building growl behind and she turned to face Isaac.

"Isaac!" Derek snapped. The wolf went silent. Isaac was hurt, frustrated, angry, tired and emotionally drawn out. The wolf in Isaac wanted Lydia to stay, because it thought she belonged there with him, where he could keep her safe. The human Isaac needed to deal with what happened and that meant Lydia leaving. She did leave, slamming the door behind her. Isaac laid on the ground in the direction of the door and let out a small whine. The last thing Derek needed was two hormonal teenagers connected by a mate bond. His life was going to be hell.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Derek looked up to find Isaac entering the living room. The younger boy combed his wet hair out his face and stopped, returning his stare. “Feeling better?”

“Yea,” Isaac responded. 

“So,” Derek began and closed the book hid been flipping through as he waited for Isaac.

“You knew that the bond wasn’t going to break. So why did you tell me it would?”

Derek sighed. “It was what you needed to hear. If you knew that was impossible I don’t think you would have stayed away. Would you have?”

Isaac hated to admit Derek was right, and as much as Isaac hated being lied to, there was a chance Derek’s lie had saved Lydia’s life. So he’d let it go this time. Just this time. “Lydia said the other werewolf said the bond was weak and could be broken though.”

“No,” Derek said quickly and shook his head. “That’s impossible.” He could see the doubt in Isaac’s face though. “I come from a family of werewolves Isaac. There have been werewolves in my family for generations. Weak pack bonds can be broken. It’s a misunderstanding that mate bonds can be also. Their similar, but at the same time very different.” That seemed to satisfy Isaac because he dropped it. “Now what are you going to do about Lydia?”

Isaac frowned and looked away from Derek. “I don’t know.”


	6. Chapter 6

Monday, two days after her werewolf kidnapping and other things...Lydia stepped onto her front porch to find herself face to face with Allison leaning against her car. “What are you doing?”

“Giving you a ride,” Allison said simply. As expected Lydia eyed her suspiciously. “Considering your last car ride didn’t end that great.”

“I highly doubt your reason,” Lydia said haughtily as she came down the steps of her porch. “You’re here to talk to me about Isaac.”

Allison grabbed the passenger door and opened it with a smile.

“Fine,” Lydia responded, slightly put out, and took a seat in the car. Their ride began in silence, Lydia once again mulling over the events of Saturday, of what she now knew. “You knew didn’t you?” She asked and turned to look at Allison who had opened her mouth slightly to respond, but said nothing. “No one seemed surprised but me.”

“We did,” Allison admitted. “But, Derek misled us too. He said if we kept the two of you apart the bond would break.”

That was a lie Lydia now knew. “You know, I’m so tired of people keeping things from me. I’m not a child.”

“I’m know,” Allison admitted. “I’m sorry. You’ve just been so insistent on not having anything to do with with anything werewolf lately that I thought knowing might just make you even unhappier.”

“Of course it would make me unhappy!” Lydia exclaimed and threw up her hands. “I’m somehow connected to Isaac Lahey now in some weird werewolf way without any resolution in sight. Yes I’m unhappy!”

“Are you going to talk to him?” Allison asked.

“No!” Lydia exclaimed without thinking, but that was a lie. There was no way she could not talk to him about this, even if she didn’t want to. That didn’t mean she couldn’t avoid it for as long as possible. “That’s why your here isn’t it?” Lydia shook her head. “To get me to talk to Isaac.”

“I’m just asking you too.”

“Did he put you up to this?”

“No,” Allison admitted, “Scott did, but I have a feeling it was Derek that put Scott up to asking me. He’s been very concerned about this bond between the two of you the entire time.”

“He said he didn’t want me tearing apart his pack,” Lydia said thoughtfully.

“Like I said,” Allison responded, “very concerned. No one has told me much, I get the impression that Derek still doesn’t trust me with certain information about anything to do with werewolves or his pack.” Allison paused thoughtfully, pursing her lips as a though occurred to her. “Maybe we should speak with my dad.”

Lydia looked at Allison, because it was the most reasonable thing she’d said since Lydia had found out she was involved. “I don’t want him to know it involves me.”

Allison nodded in understanding. “And Isaac? What are you going to do about him?”

At the mention of his name there was a slight pang in her heart. It was painful. Lydia turned ahead and looked out the windshield. “I don’t know.” 

Luckily, she hadn’t been forced to answer that question at school. Isaac never showed up. Lydia ignored the concern and disappointment at his absence. Instead she focused on being relieved. That was one more day she didn’t have to be faced with confronting what was between them.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Dad,” Allison began as she dropped her bag. Lydia strutted in behind her.

“Allison. Lydia, how are you?”

“Great Mr. Argent. Thanks for asking.” He nodded at her and turned back to Allison. “You look like you have something on your mind.”

“Yea,” Allison said as she took a seat on the sofa, Lydia following suit. “So, some Derek’s pack were talking about pack bonds and mate bonds came up.” He raised an eyebrow and she forced herself to keep it cool. “I asked Scott about it, but he said he really didn’t know much about it. As you know he isn’t a part of Derek’s pack, so I’m not surprised. And you know they aren’t going to explain...”

“So we were wondering if you could tell us,” Lydia said slightly rushed. He turned towards her. “I like to know things. And I think knowing things about werewolves is probably a good thing considering they are constantly interrupting our lives and putting them in danger.”

Chris stared at both of them for a moment, considering their words, then relented. “Mate bonds are only between werewolves, I don’t think there is much you have to worry about.”

Allison watched him look back down at his laptop and frowned. “But why haven’t I ever heard of them?”

At her question he sighed. After a thoughtful moment he closed his laptop and set it aside. “I suppose we would have gotten to it at some point, but the information wouldn’t have been useful. Mate bonds aren’t very common since not every werewolf is attracted to another werewolf. Also, there hasn’t been anyone with a mate bond since before the fire.”

“Are they like pack bonds?” Lydia questioned. He looked at her and she could tell in his eyes he wondered what her sudden interest was in anything werewolves. 

“In a way.”

“How?” Allison asked, trying to redirect her father’s attention to herself.

“As you know, an alpha draws strength from his pack. The wolves in that pack also draw strength from the alpha. Mate bonds are similar. It allows the mates to draw strength from one another. There is also a similar emotional connection as there is between alpha and beta. The alpha is in tune to his pack, their emotions, their health. Mate’s are also, but because emotions are already involved between mates it means they are much more in tune to one another.”

Lydia kept her face neutral, trying not to react to his words, but it all sounded so familiar. There were times she couldn’t help but wonder why her attention was drawn to Isaac. She began to wonder if subconsciously it was her mind reacting to his emotions.

“It must make them easier to hunt,” Allison said softly. In response her father frowned.

Chris sighed at her words. “Yes. Capture one and you are sure to find the mate. They’ll come to you.”

Immediately Lydia thought back to the werewolf who had taken her. Isaac had risked his life, saved hers, and killed the stranger without a second thought. Allison’s next words drew Lydia’s attention.

“Can a mate bond be broken?” Allison asked, but she knew the answer, at least Derek’s answer. It was worth getting a second opinion for Lydia’s benefit.

“A wolf can leave a pack and an alpha can force a wolf out of a pack. Pack bonds can be broken. Mate bonds are stronger, like I said,. They can’t be broken.”

“What?” Lydia asked breathlessly and she could tell by the look in his face that he caught her slight panic. 

“Mate bonds are for life,” he said and slowly turned his head back to Allison, his eyes still lingering on Lydia until the last second. “Even when one dies. I suppose it’s possible one might find love again, but there is no second chance at a mate bond.”

“Wow,” Allison laughed, “that’s intense.” Her dad looked at Lydia again who still had a slightly shocked look on her face. “Thanks for the info dad. I finished up all my homework at lunch,” she said as she stood. “I was just coming by to change then me and Lydia were going to go hang out. Is that okay?”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh my god,” Lydia said in panic as she shut the passenger door and bent over, burying her face into her hands. “I’m going to be connected to that stupid curly haired boy for the rest of my life.”

Allison pulled out of the driveway and opened her mouth to speak, say anything that might give Lydia comfort, but she had nothing to offer. “He isn’t that bad.” By the look Lydia gave her that wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Even Allison had to admit it was kind of weak.

“I don’t care how bad he is! I’m seventeen! I hate him! I hate Peter Hale for biting me! I hate Derek for turning Isaac and I hate Scott for making me sit with Isaac that night when he almost died! I hate all of them!” She screamed and slapped her hands on the cars dashboard repeatedly as she screamed.

Allison winced at Lydia’s display of anger. 

“And I swear I can feel things like your dad said. It wasn’t obvious at first, but now that I know it’s so much clearer,” she said and bit her lip as she shook her head. The kiss. That totally random kiss out of nowhere. Now it didn’t seem so random anymore.

“If it means anything,” Allison began, “he tried to fight it in the beginning. Derek was worried that the alpha’s might pick up on it, target you also. So he fought it. That’s when Derek enlisted us to keep the two of you apart. Isaac felt it months ago, he’s just been ignoring it. In fact, up until Saturday he thought it could be broken.” 

Allison’s last words had Lydia turning to face her. “So then why if it’s something neither of us want. Why?”

“I don’t know,” Allison said softly. Allison didn’t know, but part her suspected that Lydia and Isaac subconsciously were drawn to one another, wanted one another, and weren’t prepared to admit it. As Isaac said, his wolf wanted it without a doubt. “You’re going to have to talk to him.”

At the thought Lydia would have sworn she was about to have a panic attack. How the hell did you talk to someone you just found out you were bound to for the rest of your life. “I won’t. I’ll avoid it.”

That Allison didn’t believe, but she didn’t say otherwise.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


End file.
